USA: Abortion Rights after the Dobbs decision

Congratulations and thanks to Martha F. Davis, University Distinguished Professor of Law at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, MA, whose recently published contribution to the Ethical and Legal Issues in Reproductive Health section of the International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics discusses how the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, has opened the door to new abortion restrictions, complicating care and threatening providers. We are pleased to circulate the following abstract:

Martha F. Davis “The state of abortion rights in the US,”  International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics 159.1 (October 2022): 324-329.  PDF at Wiley online.  Submitted text at SSRN.

Abstract: In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022), the US Supreme Court reversed longstanding court precedents that protected abortion as a fundamental right. Without that federal baseline, many states are passing restrictive laws that threaten providers and complicate patient care. The legal issues raised by these state restrictions are complex, including questions such as the ex-territorial application of state restrictions and federal authority to regulate access to medication abortion. Meanwhile, providers who risk criminal or civil penalties for violating these laws may be deterred from providing services to those seeking care, including for ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages. State variations are dramatic, with some states taking steps to strengthen their abortion protections while others are eliminating abortion access even in situations of rape or incest. As dire as these developments are, it is hoped that they can serve as a wake-up call heard worldwide, to avoid complacency and maintain vigilance to protect abortion rights.

RELATED RESOURCES:

Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, No. 19-1392, 597 U.S. _ (2022) (Supreme Court of the United States), June 24, 2022  [which held that the Constitution of the United States does not confer a right to abortion]. Decision online.  Case summary by CRR.   

Brief of International and Comparative Legal Scholars As Amici Curiae In Support of Respondents. Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Amicus brief by Martha Davis et al. 

Brief of European Law Professors As Amici Curiae In Support of the Respondents, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Amicus brief by European Law Professors.

Brief of United Nations Mandate Holders As Amici Curiae in Support of the Respondents, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Amicus brief of United Nations Mandate Holders.

[France] [Why and how to constitutionalize abortion law]: ‘Pourquoi et comment constitutionaliser le droit à l’avortement,” par Stéphanie Hennette-Vauchez, Diane Roman et Serge Slama, La Revue des Droits de l’Homme, Actualités Droits-Libertés | 2022 Juillet 2022. Full text in French. Soon after the Dobbs decision in the U.S., France opened debate to formally include the right to abortion in the French Constitution with the filing of a constitutional bill, a pioneering historic opportunity to open the constitutional text to reproductive questions.

Ethical and Legal Issues in Reproductive Health – more than 100 other concise articles are online here.

______________________
Compiled by: the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca.   See Program website for our Publications,  Research resources, and the Reprohealthlaw Commentaries Series.  TO JOIN THE REPROHEALTHLAW BLOG: enter your email address in the upper right corner of our blog, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

REPROHEALTHLAW Updates – Autumn 2022

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DEVELOPMENTS

COLOMBIA: Corte Constitucional [Constitutional Court] February 21, 2022, Sentencia C-055-22.  27-page Spanish communicado.  27-page unofficial English translation.  Nota de Prensa (Spanish).   Download unofficial English translation.  (Abortion is decriminalized within 24 weeks of gestation.]

INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS – EL SALVADOR Manuela et al. v. El Salvador,  Inter-Am. Ct. H.R. (ser. C) No 441. (November 2, 2021).  Decision in English.. Backup copy. Decision in Spanish.  Backup copy in Spanish..Comment by Centre for Reproductive Rights.  [El Salvador was held accountable for the arbitrary detention, torture, and conviction of a woman after obstetric emergency and loss of pregnancy in 2008. Convicted of “aggravated homicide.” Two years later, Manuela died from cancer, in prison.]

KENYA: PAK & Salim Mohammed v. Attorney General & 3 Others (Constitutional Petition E009 of 2020) [2022] KEHC 262 (KLR) (24 March 2022) (High Court of Kenya at Malindi)  Decision online.   Backup copy.    Press release by CRR. [Abortion care is a fundamental constitutional right. Arrests of patients and clinicians are illegal. Parliament is directed to align law and policy with the Constitution.]

MEXICO: AI 148/2017 Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación 2021,  Acción de inconstitucionalidad AI 148/2017, Sept 7, 2021  Decision in Spanish.   News report in English.   Official press release in Spanish.  Official press release in English.  [Criminalizing abortion is unconstitutional; state interests in protecting fetus cannot outweigh the reproductive rights of women.]

MEXICO AI 106/2018: Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación [Supreme Court] 2021, Acción de inconstitucionalidad AI 106/2018 and 107/2018), Sept. 7, 2021.  Decision in Spanish.  Official press release in English.  [States may not establish a right to life from the moment of conception in their local constitutions]

MEXICO AI 54/2018: Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación 2021, Acción de inconstitucionalidad AI 54/2018, Sept 21, 2021.   Decision in Spanish.  Decision backup.    Official press release in English.  [This ruling struck down part of the General Law regulating health services nationwide, because it established an expansive right to conscientious objection by medical personnel, without establishing the limits necessary to ensure patients’ rights to healthcare.]

NEW ZEALAND: High Court decision in NZ Health Professionals’ Alliance v Attorney-General, Sept. 24, 2021, upholds sections of the Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion Act 1977 (‘CSAA’), amended in the Abortion Legislation Act 2020, regarding conscientious objectors’ duty to refer and (within reason) accommodation of objecting employees. News report.  Decision online. Commentary on decision. 

NORTHERN IRELAND Judicial review by Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission: In re NIHRC (Abortion), “In the matter of an application by The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission for Judicial Review – In the matter of the failure by the Secretary of State, Executive Committee and Minister of Health to provide women with access to Abortion and Post Abortion Care in All Public Health Facilities in Northern Ireland [2021] NIQB 91 Delivered 14 October 2021.    Decision online.  Backup copy.    Official Summary.  News story.   [Secretary of State failed to comply with 2019 Act  to “expeditiously” provide women in Northern Ireland with access to high quality abortion and post abortion services].

POLAND: Applications have been filed before the European Court of Human Rights by more than 1,000 Polish women who were denied abortions or who postponed their reproductive decisions out of fear. [because of the Constitutional Tribunal’s October 2020 ruling that disallowed abortion in cases of severe and irreversible fetal defects. Result: almost total ban on abortion.] Human Rights Watch report.

POLAND: “Izabel”, 22-weeks pregnant, died of septic shock in Sept 2021 while doctors waited for her doomed fetus to die within her.  Washington Post Nov 2021 article. Mass protests focused on the Oct 2020 abortion ban ruling, but, so far, only hospital and staff have been held accountable. Notes from Poland, Sept. 2022.

UNITED STATES: Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, No. 19-1392, 597 U.S. _ (2022) (Supreme Court of the United States), held that the Constitution of the United States does not confer a right to abortion. Case summary by CRR. Amicus brief by Martha Davis et al. IJGO article and other amicus briefs.

NEW INTERNATIONAL ABORTION CARE GUIDELINE

[WHO] Abortion Care Guideline (Geneva: World Health Organization, 2022). Chapter 2 discusses Law and Policy.
Download the Guideline, or see Overview and Supplementary resources.

SCHOLARSHIP

[abortion law, France] [Why and how to constitutionalize abortion law]: ‘Pourquoi et comment constitutionaliser le droit à l’avortement,” par Stéphanie Hennette-Vauchez, Diane Roman et Serge Slama, La Revue des Droits de l’Homme, Actualités Droits-Libertés | 2022 Juillet 2022. Full text in French.

[abortion law, Latin America] “Pushing Past the Tipping Point: Can the Inter-American System Accommodate Abortion Rights?” by Patricia Palacios Zuloaga, Human Rights Law Review 21.4 (Dec 2021): 899–934. Abstract and Article.

“Abortion Lawfare in Latin America: Some Reading Keys for a Changing Scenario, ” special issue eds. Catarina Barbieri, Camila Gianella, Maria Defago, and Marta Machado (2021) Rev. Direito GV vol. 17 no 3, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Epub Dec 15, 2021. Overview and three articles in English.

[abortion law, Mexico] “The Decriminalization of Abortion: A Landmark Decision by the Mexican Supreme Court,” by Joy Monserrat Ochoa Martínez,and Roberto Niembro Ortega, I-CONnect Blog, Posted: 12 Oct 2021. Expert comment.

[abortion law, Poland] “The Scales of the European Court of Human Rights: Abortion Restriction in Poland, the European Consensus, and the State’s Margin of Appreciation,” by Julia Kapelańska-Pręgowska, Health and Human Rights Journal 23.2 (Dec 2021): 213-224. Abstract and article.

[abortion law, USA] “The state of abortion rights in the US,” by Martha F. Davis. International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 159.1 (Oct 2022): 324-329 Abstract online. Article: free access .

[abortion law, USA] Abortion and the Law in America: Roe v. Wade to the Present, by Mary Ziegler. (Cambridge University Press, 2020). Publisher’s abstract.

“Conscientious Objection and the Duty to Refer,” by Bernard M. Dickens, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 2021; 155: 556-560. PDF at Wiley Online.  Submitted Text at SSRN.

[conscientious objection: Argentina] “Regulating Conscientious Objection to Legal Abortion in Argentina: Taking into Consideration Its Uses and Consequences,” by Agustina Ramón Michel, Stephanie Kung, Alyse López-Salm, and Sonia Ariza Navarrete, Health and Human Rights Journal 22.2 (Dec 2020): 271 – 384. Abstract and article.

[Conscientious objection: South Africa, nurses] “Power dynamics in the provision of legal abortion : a feminist perspective on nurses and conscientious objection in South Africa” by Satang Nabaneh, Doctoral Thesis (LLD)–University of Pretoria, 2020, now online: Doctoral thesis – 290 pages.

Conscientious Objection / The Right to Conscience, an annotated bibliography, updated Feb. 15, 2021 Conscience Bibiography.

[Conscientious objection] Global Map of Norms regarding Conscientious Objection, a searchable interactive map for comparative law, by Agustina Ramón Michel (coordinator) and Dana Repka (CEDES / REDAAS) with the support of Ipas and the ELA team. Updated December 15, 2022: Global Map of Norms re Conscientious Objection.

“Contested Rights: Abortion and Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the United Nations,” by Erin Aylward, Ph.D. thesis, University of Toronto, Canada, Nov. 2020. Abortion/SOGI thesis.

[migrants] “International migrants’ right to sexual and reproductive health care,” by Y. Y. Brandon Chen, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 2022;157: 210–215  PDF at Wiley online.  Submitted Text at SSRN. 

US-focused news, resources, and legal developments are available  on Repro Rights Prof Blog. View or subscribe.

JOBS
Links to employers in the field of Reproductive and Sexual Health Law are online here.
______________
Compiled by: the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca.   See Program website for our Publications,  Research resources, and Reprohealthlaw Commentaries Series.  TO JOIN THE REPROHEALTHLAW BLOG: enter your email address in the upper right corner of our blog, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

REPROHEALTHLAW Updates – Summer 2020

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DEVELOPMENTS
[Argentina, abortion, conscience]  Argentina Ministry of Health issued a protocol expanding hospital abortion access to pregnancies resulting from rape. Raped girls 13 and over can have abortions without parental consent. The protocol also weakens a doctor’s ability to refuse to perform such abortions due to personal objection. New York Times, Dec 12, 2019.

[IACtHR, Ecuador], First standards for protection from sexual violence in schools: Paola del Rosario Guzmán Albarracín et al. v. Ecuador, Case C No. 405 (June 24, 2020) Sentencia en espanol – 85 paginas. Public Hearing Jan. 28 2020.  Resolución (Asuntos) 7 paginas. Reprohealthlaw blog summary.
Case comment in English (10 pages).

Ugandan Constitutional Court declares maternal health a constitutional right. First African court to do so. The Center for Health Human Rights and Development (CEHURD) and 3 Others v Attorney General [2020], Constitutional Petition No. 16 of 2011 (Constitutional Court of Uganda at Kampala). [Maternal health] Decision of August 19, 2020. Reprohealthlaw blogpost. Longer comment with the Court’s twelve “Declarations.”

[United Kingdom, surrogacy] Whittington Hospital NHS Trust (Appellant) v. XX (Respondent) [2020] UK Supreme Court 14. (April 1, 2020) allows paid surrogacy, where legal, in foreign countries. Decision (24 pages). Article by Prof. Bernard Dickens.

WEBINARS
“Access to medical abortion: Global South perspectives,”, with Panelists Dr. Shilpa Shroff, Prof. Dipika Jain, Dr. Sana Durvesh, and Moderator, Sai Jyothirmai Racheria. Organizers: SARJAI and SAIGE. Friday, Sept. 4, 2020, 14:30 (GMT+8, Kuala Lumpur time). Register here for Sept 4.

“Telemedicine, self-managed abortion and access to abortion in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic,” chaired by Mariana Romero (Argentina). Speakers: Jade Maina (Kenya), Maria Mercedes Vivas (Colombia), Wendy V. Norman (Canada), Rodica Comendant (Moldova), Jasmine Lovely George (India), Kinga Jelinska (The Netherlands), Marge Berer (United Kingdom), to be held: Wednesday, September 23, 2020 (2:00-3:30 p.m. British Summer Time). Register here for Sept 23.

“Telemedicine / self-managed abortion is critical to strengthening women and girls’ reproductive rights and reducing maternal mortality” FIGO webinar, chaired by Prof. Dame Lesley Regan (FIGO), with speakers: Ambassador Dr. Eunice Brookman-Amissah (Ghana), Marge Berer (UK), Christina Zampas (Switzerland), Nelly Munyasia (Kenya), Evelyn Odhiambo (Kenya). Will be available in English, Spanish and French. To be held Thursday Sept. 24, 2020 at 15:00-16:30 (British Summer Time). Register for Sept 24.

SCHOLARSHIP
“Access to Abortion: An Annotated Bibliography of Reports and Scholarship,” prepared by the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, 2nd edition, 2020, 44 pages, (organized by country, focuses on barriers and recommendations, ) Annotated bibliography.

[abortion] “Abortion,” thematic chapter in Comparative Human Rights Law, by Sandra Fredman (Oxford UP, Nov. 2018). Institutional access through Oxford Scholarship Online. About the book.

[abortion, Argentina, Ireland, US] “Argentina’s path to Legalizing Abortion:  A comparative analysis of Ireland, the United States and Argentina,” by  Andrea F. Noguera, Southwestern Journal of International Law 25.2 (2019): 356-392.    Article online.

[abortion, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay ] “Challenges and opportunities for access to legal and safe abortion in Latin America based on the scenarios in Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay,” by Beatriz Galli – Cadernos de Saúde Pública, 2020 – SciELO Public Health

[abortion, Brazil] Understanding the sexual and reproductive health needs in Brazil’s Zika-affected region: placing women at the center of the discussion,” by D. Diniz, L. Brito, I. Ambrogi, AB Tavares, M. Ali. International of Gynaecology and Obstetrics 2019; 147: 17 Institutional access

[abortion, India] “Reimagining Reproductive Rights Jurisprudence in India: Reflections on the Recent Decisions on Privacy and Gender Equality from the Supreme Court of India,” by Dipika Jain and Payal Shah. Columbia Journal of Gender and Law 39.2(2020), 1-53. Article online.

[abortion law, India] “A Womb of One’s Own: Privacy and Reproductive Rights,” Arijeet Ghosh & Nitika Khaitan (2017) 52:42/43 Economic & Political Weekly, [1-9], re landmark Aug 24, 2017 privacy decision (Puttaswamy) already helped decriminalize homosexuality, adultery–potentially abortion. Article online.

Human Rights Quarterly is freely available online during the COVID-19 pandemic.  All issues.

[obstetric violence] “Operationalizing a Human Rights-Based Approach to Address Mistreatment against Women during Childbirth,” by Christina Zampas, Avni Amin, Lucinda O’Hanlon, Alisha Bjerregaard, Hedieh Mehrtash, Rajat Khosla, and Özge Tunçalp, Health and Human Rights Journal, 22(1) 2020: 251-264 Article online.

[surrogacy] “Paid surrogacy abroad does not violate public policy: UK Supreme Court,” by Bernard M. Dickens, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 150.1 (2020): 129-133. PDF at Wiley Online.    Abstract and Submitted Text.

[U.S. reproductive decisions] Feminist Judgments: Reproductive Justice Rewritten, ed. Kimberly Mutcherson, Cambridge UP, 2020. Book details.

US-focused news, resources, and legal developments are available  on Repro Rights Prof Blog. View or subscribe.

Violence Against Women’s Health in International Law, new book by Sara De Vido, Manchester University Press, 2020. Abstract and Table of Contents.

JOBS
Links to employers in the field of Reproductive and Sexual Health Law are online here.
______________
Compiled by: the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca.   See Program website for our Publications,  Information resources, and Reprohealthlaw Commentaries Series.  TO JOIN THE REPROHEALTHLAW BLOG: enter your email address in the upper right corner of our blog, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

USA: Zoom event: Supreme Court judgment and Repro Rights amid COVID-19

The Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School is hosting an online discussion on Zoom next week. “Reproductive Rights in 2020: June Medical Services v. Russo and COVID-19,” is scheduled for Thursday, July 16, 2020 at 12:00 noon (EST).

EVENT DESCRIPTION:
2020 has been a notable year for reproductive rights in the United States. On one hand, the Supreme Court has decided June Medical Services v. Russo, its first abortion-related case following the changeover from Justices Scalia and Kennedy to Gorsuch and Kavanaugh. On the other hand, the COVID-19 pandemic has also impacted access to abortion, sexual health, and reproductive health services. For example, hospitals have been struggling with how to keep patients and providers safe from COVID-19 while respecting the autonomy of laboring parents. Some policymakers have labeled abortion services non-essential while some providers work to use telehealth to deliver reproductive services. Join us for a discussion of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in June Medical and a dissection of the impact that COVID-19 has had on this field.

Details are online here.

Register for the event here.

REPROHEALTHLAW Updates – April/May 2020

SUBSCRIBE TO REPROHEALTHLAW: To receive these updates bi-monthly by email, enter your address in upper right corner of this webpage, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

DEVELOPMENTS
[Ecuador] Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Caso Guzmán Albarracín y otros Vs. Ecuador. Decision (January 27 2020) against sexual abuse in educational system. Decision online. 8-hour Public hearing, Jan. 28, 2020.  Guardian newspaper report  

CASEBOOKS
[India] Securing Reproductive Justice in India: A Casebook, ed. Mrinal Satish, Aparna Chandra, and Payal K. Shah, (New York: Center for Reproductive Rights, 2019) 520-page book/chapters online.

[United States] Feminist Judgments: Reproductive Justice Rewritten, ed. Kimberly Mutcherson, Feminist Judgment Series: Rewritten Judicial Opinions. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020). Institutional access.

SCHOLARSHIP
“Abortion in the context of COVID-19: a human rights imperative,” by Jaime Todd-Gher & Payal K Shah (2020) Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters, 28.1 Article online.

[abortion, India] “Reimagining Reproductive Rights Jurisprudence in India: Reflections on the Recent Decisions on Privacy and Gender Equality from the Supreme Court of India,” by Dipika Jain and Payal Shah. Columbia Journal of Gender and Law, 39.2(2020), 1-53. Article online.

[abortion, U.K.] “Decriminalising Abortion in the UK- What Would It Mean?” ed. Sally Sheldon and Kaye Wellings. (Bristol: Policy Press, March 23, 2020) 112 pages, Open Access book.

[abortion laws: Uruguay, South Africa] “Abortion, health and gender stereotypes: a critical analysis of the Uruguayan and South African abortion laws through the lens of human rights,” by Lucia Berro Pizzarossa, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Groningen, 2019. 304 pages. Complete thesis. Abstract.

[conscience, Europe] “Conscientious Objection under the European Convention on Human Rights: The Ugly Duckling of a Flightless Jurisprudence,” by Stijn Smet, in The European Court of Human Rights and the Freedom of Religion or Belief: The 25 Years since Kokkinakis, ed. Jeroen Temperman, T. Jeremy Gunn and Malcolm D. Evans (Brill, 2019) 282–306. Institutional access.

[conscience, Italy] “The impact of gynecologists’ conscientious objection on abortion access,” by Tommaso Autorino, Francesco Mattioli e Letizia Mencarini,  Social Science Research 87 (March, 2020): 102403  16-pages, Institutional access.

Conscientious Objection / The Right to Conscience – annotated bibliography, updated March 17, 2020. Download here.

Human Rights Quarterly is freely available online during the COVID-19 pandemic.  All issues.

US-focused news, resources, and legal developments are available  on Repro Rights Prof Blog. View or subscribe.

WEBINAR:
“COVID-19: What implications for SRHR globally?” by Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters, webinar March 27, 2020. 100-minute video.

JOBS
University of Toronto, Faculty of Law @UTLaw seeks new Director, International Human Rights Program. Apply by June 17, 2020. Details and application information.

Links to employers in the field of Reproductive and Sexual Health Law are online here.
______________
Compiled by: the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca.   See Program website for our Publications,  Information resources, and Reprohealthlaw Commentaries Series.  TO JOIN THE REPROHEALTHLAW BLOG: enter your email address in the upper right corner of our blog, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

REPROHEALTHLAW Updates – June 2019

SUBSCRIBE TO REPROHEALTHLAW: To receive these updates monthly by email, enter your address in upper right corner of this webpage, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

DEVELOPMENTS:

[abortion, Germany]: Two more doctors fined for “advertising” abortion.  Newspaper report.  Criminal restrictions on abortion “advertising” restricts information provision – comment by Stephanie Schlitt.

[abortion, United Kingdom] UK Appeal court overturns forced abortion ruling. Termination had been said to be in best interests of woman with learning disabilities. The Guardian newspaper.

[abortion law, Croatia]:  Constitutional Court decision of February 21, 2017.  Rješenje Ustavnog Suda Republike Hrvatske, broj: U-I-60/1991 i dr. od 21.veljace 2017.  Decision in Croatian.  Summary from CRR.   Court’s press release.   New: Judgment translated into English.    I-CONnect Symposium online.

[abortion law, Mexico]  Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación, Primera Sala [Supreme Court] 2019,  Amparo en Revisión 1388/2015
[Case of “Marisa,” ruled that abortion should be allowed when mother’s health at risk]  May 15, 2019.  Decision in Spanish.   Backup copy.

[Costa Rica] Emergency contraception (Levonorgestrel) approved by Ministry of Health, for sale without prescription.  News article.

[homosexuality rulings]:
“Botswana’s High Court decriminalizes gay sex.”  June 12, 2019.  New York Times report.
“India: [Supreme] Court legalises gay sex in landmark ruling,” Sept 6, 2018.  BBC Report.
“Kenya: High Court upholds a ban on gay sex.”  EG & 7 others v Attorney General; DKM & 9 others Petition 150 & 234 of 2016 (consolidated), decision May 24, 2019  Decision online.    New York Times report.  Activists plan to appeal. Human Rights Watch report.

SCHOLARSHIP:

[abortion law, Brazil, Portuguese and English article]
—— “Constitucionalização do aborto no Brasil: uma análise a partir do caso da gravidez anencefálica,” por Marta Rodriguez de Assis Machado y Rebecca J. Cook. Revista Direito e Práxis, Rio de Janeiro, Vol. 10, N.03, 2019, p. 2239-2295.. DOI: 10.1590/2179-8966/2019/43406    Disponível em Portugues do Brazil.    Resumo en Portugues.

—— “Constitutionalizing abortion in Brazil,” Marta Rodriguez de Assis Machado y Rebecca J. Cook. Revista de Investigações Constitucionais, Curitiba, vol. 5, n. 3, p. 185-231, set./dez. 2018. DOI: 10.5380/rinc.v5i3.60973. Article in English. Abstract and related resources.

[abortion law, Chile] “The misrepresentation of conscientious objection as a new strategy of resistance to abortion decriminalisation,” by Verónica Undurraga and Michelle Sadler, Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters 27.2 (2019):1–3.  Abstract on Reprohealthlaw.   Article online

[abortion law, Croatia]: “Symposium: The 2017 Croatian Constitutional Court’s Abortion Ruling,” International Journal of Constitutional Law Blog (I-CONnect), June 15-18, 2019) includes comments from 3 legal scholars:
—— “Reconciling with the Past, Looking to the Future,” by Prof. Djordje Gardašević  Introduction
—— “A Nominal Win for Reproductive Freedom,” by Prof. Ana Horvat Vuković   Reproductive Freedom.
—— “Finding Common Ground amid Differences in Approach,” by Prof. Sonia Human  Common Ground.

[abortion law, South Korea] “Punishment for Abortion will Vanish from Korea’s Criminal Code: the April 2019 Constitutional Court Decision,” by Professor Hyunah Yang, Seoul National University School of Law  Commentary on Reprohealthlaw.

[USA]:  Reproductive Rights and Justice Stories (Law Stories Series), ed. Melissa Murray, Katherine Shaw, and Reva B. Siegel. Foundation Press, 2019. includes litigation stories behind important cases. Publisher’s summary.   Symposium about the book

US-focused news, resources, and legal developments are available  on Repro Rights Prof Blog. View or subscribe.

REPORTS

[Dominican Republic] “I Felt Like the World Was Falling Down on Me,”  Adolescent Girls’ Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the Dominican Republic (New York: Human Rights Watch, June 18, 2019)     Report in English.   en Español

[Honduras]  “Life or Death Choices for Women Living Under Honduras’ Abortion Ban,” (Human Rights Watch, 2019) Report in English.    en Español

[sex education – Canada] Canadian Guidelines for Sexual Health Education (updated edition, SIECAN (Sex Information & Education Council of Canada), May 1, 2019)  Guidelines, in English.  et en Francais.

JOBS

Links to employers in the field of Reproductive and Sexual Health Law are online here.
______________
Compiled by: the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca.   See Program website for our Publications,  Information resources, and Reprohealthlaw Commentaries Series.  TO JOIN THE REPROHEALTHLAW BLOG: enter your email address in the upper right corner of our blog, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

Abortion Across Borders: Transnational Travel and Access to Abortion Services

Congratulations to the editors and authors of a new book, Abortion across Borders Transnational Travel and Access to Abortion Services, who examine how restrictive policies force women to move both within and across national borders in order to reach abortion providers, often at great expense, over long distances and with significant safety risks.  Taking historical and contemporary perspectives, contributors examine the situation in regions that include Texas, Prince Edward Island, Ireland, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Eastern Europe.  Throughout the book, they take a feminist intersectional approach to transnational travel and access to abortion services that is sensitive to inequalities of gender, race, and class in reproductive health care. This multidisciplinary volume raises challenging logistical, legal, and ethical questions while exploring the gendered aspects of medical tourism.   To request an examination or review copy,  see online here.  We are pleased to circulate the full Table of Contents:

Christabelle Sethna and Gayle Davis, eds., Abortion across Borders:  Transnational Travel and Access to Abortion Services,  Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019.  360 pages.  Detailed overview, Author bios, Reviews, and Contents.

Table Of Contents

Introduction:
Christabelle Sethna

Part I. Flight Risks

1. Sherri Finkbine Flew to Sweden: Abortion and Disability in the Early 1960s
Lena Lennerhed

2. From Heathrow Airport to Harley Street: The ALRA and the Travel of Nonresident Women for Abortion Services in Britain
Christabelle Sethna

3. The Trans-Tasman Abortion Travel Service: Abortion Services for New Zealand Women in the 1970s
Hayley Brown

Part II. Domestic Transgressions

4. All Aboard the “Abortion Express”: Geographic Variability, Domestic Travel, and the 1967 British Abortion Act
Gayle Davis, Jane O’Neill, Clare Parker, and Sally Sheldon

5. A Double Movement: The Politics of Reproductive Mobility in Ireland
Mary Gilmartin and Sinéad Kennedy

6. Tales of Mobility: Women’s Travel and Abortion Services in a Globalized Australia
Barbara Baird

7. Don’t Mess with Texas: Abortion Policy, Texas Style
Lori A. Brown

8. Trials and Trails: The Emergence of Canada’s Abortion Refugees in Prince Edward Island
Cathrine Chambers, Colleen MacQuarrie, and Jo-Ann MacDonald

Part III. Democratic Transitions

9. Abortion Travel and the Cost of Reproductive Choice in Spain
Agata Ignaciuk

10. “The Import Problem”: The Travels of Our Bodies, Ourselves to Eastern Europe
Anna Bogic

11. Abortion and the Catholic Church in Poland
Ewelina Ciaputa

12.  Beyond the Borders of Brexit: Traveling for Abortion Access to a Post-EU Britain
Niklas Barke

Abortion across Borders:  Transnational Travel and Access to Abortion Services, 

Book Overview, Author bios, Reviews, and Contents.

__________________
Compiled by the Coordinator of the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca For Program publications and resources, see our website, online here. TO JOIN THIS BLOG: enter your email address in upper right corner of this webpage, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

REPROHEALTHLAW Updates – Nov. 2017

SUBSCRIBE TO REPROHEALTHLAW: To receive these updates monthly by email, enter your address in upper right corner of this webpage, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

DEVELOPMENTS

Northern Ireland:  Low-income women seeking free abortions will receive government travel grants. Newspaper

 CONFERENCES

“Abortion in the British Isles, France and North America since 1800,”    International Conference organised by the University of Paris-Sorbonne (research group HDEA, EA 4086), in Paris (France), 6-8 November 2018.  Registration fee  Submit 500-word abstract and short CV by Dec 23, 2017.  Conference details.

SCHOLARSHIP:

Abortion Law in Transnational Perspective: Cases and Controversies, ed. Rebecca J. Cook, Joanna N. Erdman and Bernard M. Dickens (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014), now also in Spanish (see next entry) and in paperback, 20% discount code PH70.  English edition from U Penn Press.  Table of Contents with chapter summaries. 
Abortion Decisions Online
—-El aborto en el derecho transnacional: casos y controversias,  ed. Rebecca J. Cook, Joanna N. Erdman y Bernard M. Dickens (Mexico: FCE/CIDE, 2016)   En espanol, 2016: Fondo de Cultura Económica y  Libreria CIDE.     Índice con resúmenes de capítulos 1-11
Decisiones Judiciales sobre aborto en línea

About Abortion: Terminating Pregnancy in Twenty-First Century America,  by Carol Sanger (Harvard UP, 2017)   Book details

“The Abortion Closet (with a Note on Rules and Standards),” by David Pozen, Columbia Journal of Gender and Law, Vol. 35, pp. 161-166, 2017. draws out some implications of Sanger’s arguments concerning abortion secrecy, abortion discourse, and the use of standards in constitutional abortion law.  Abstract and article

 

[Colombia, conscience]  Criminal Scopes of the Doctor Conscientious Objection in the Cases of Lawful Abortion in Colombia; Alcances penales de la objeción de conciencia del médico en el aborto lícito en Colombia; Âmbitos penales da objeção de consciência em o médico, by Juan Francisco Mendoza Perdomo, IUSTA 2:37 (2012) doctoral research, Summary in Spanish, English and Portuguese

[Europe] “Mandatory Waiting Periods and Biased Abortion Counseling in Central and Eastern Europe by Leah Hoctor and Adriana Lamačkova,  Int J Gynecol Obstet, 139 (2017) : 253–258.  Abstract and article

Global Abortion Policies Database, an open-access repository of abortion laws, policies, standards, and guidelines for 197 countries. Designed to strengthen efforts to eliminate unsafe abortion, the database acknowledges and engages law and policy as a social determinant of safe abortion.   Global Abortion Policies Database.

“The global abortion policies database—legal knowledge as a health intervention,” by Joanna Erdman, November 1, 2017  Opinion piece at BMJ.

 

Legal Grounds III: Reproductive and Sexual Rights in Sub-Saharan African Courts  (Pretoria, Pretoria University Law Press (PULP), 2017), and previous volumes.
Printed edition of Legal Grounds III available from PULP.
Previous volumes PDF online at CRR.
Legal Grounds III, online edition with links to decisions and updates.

[United Kingdom, abortion law] British Journal of Obsetrics and Gynaecology (BJOG)  124:13 (Dec. 2017)
BJOG issue on UK abortion law
—“The emancipation of women’s fertility,” by Michael Marsh, BJOG 124:13 (Dec 2017): 1921-22.
—“Abortion care as a key women’s health service,” Lesley Regan, BJOG 124.13 (Dec 2017): 1922.
—“Effectiveness, safety, and acceptability of first‐trimester medical termination of pregnancy performed by non‐doctor providers: a systematic review,” by S Sjöström, M Dragoman, MS Fønhus, B Ganatra, K Gemzell‐Danielsson, BJOG 124.13 (Dec 2017): 1928–1940
—“Reproductive rights: perspectives from a retired American obstetrician‐gynaecologist,” by Stephen S Entman, BJOG 124:13 (Dec 2017): 1941
—“The 50th Anniversary of the Abortion Act,” by David Paintin, BJOG 124:13 (Dec 2017): 1947.

“End criminal sanctions for abortion,” by Richard Hurley, BMJ 2017;359:j5409. 
Comment at BMJ.

US-focused news, resources, and legal developments are available on Repro Rights Prof Blog.  View or subscribe.

JOBS

Reproductive Health Matters.  Director and Editor-in-Chief.  2-year renewable contract.   Apply by Jan 8, 2018.  RHM Director and Editor Position details.

Links to other employers in the field of Reproductive and Sexual Health Law are online here

______________
Compiled by the Coordinator of the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca For Program publications and resources, see our website, online here. TO JOIN THIS BLOG: enter your email address in upper right corner of this webpage, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

“Obstetric violence”: maternal mistreatment in healthcare settings

Congratulations to Carlos Herrera Vacaflor, LL.M., a visiting scholar at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law, whose article, partly based on his Master of Laws thesis,* was recently published in Reproductive Health Matters’ special section on abuse and mistreatment in healthcare settings.  The author can be reached at charlie.herrera {at} mail, utoronto, ca.

Obstetric violence: a new framework for identifying challenges to maternal healthcare in Argentina, by Carlos Herrera Vacaflor, Reproductive Health Matters 24.47(May 2016):65-73.  Full text and abstracts in English, French and Spanish.

Abstract:  Argentina has recognized women’s right to not be subjected to obstetric violence, the violence exercised by health personnel on the body and reproductive processes of pregnant women, as expressed through dehumanizing treatment, medicalization abuse, and the conversion of natural processes of reproduction into pathological ones.  Argentina’s legislative decision to frame this abuse and mistreatment of women under the rubric of gender-based violence permits the identification of failures in both the healthcare system and women’s participation in society. This article examines how applying the Violence Against Women framework to address issues of abuse and mistreatment of women during maternal health care provides a beneficial approach for analyzing such embedded structural problems from public health, human rights, and ethics perspectives. The framework of Violence Against Women seeks to transform existing harmful cultural practices, not only through the protection of women’s reproductive autonomy, but also through the empowerment of women’s participation in society.

Further Reading:
Obstetric Violence in Argentina: a Study on the Legal Effects of Medical Guidelines and Statutory Obligations for Improving the Quality of Maternal Health,  by Carlos Alejandro Herrera Vacaflor, LL.M. Thesis, Graduate Department of the Faculty of Law University of Toronto, 2015 abstracted here.

International Human Rights and the Mistreatment of Women during Childbirth by Rajat Khosla, Christina Zampas, Joshua P. Vogel,  Meghan A. Bohren, Mindy Roseman, and Joanna N. Erdman,  Health and Human Rights Journal  Article in press online.

Other articles from this issue of Reproductive Health Matters, Vol. 24, Issue 47 (May 2016)

• Moving beyond disrespect and abuse: addressing the structural dimensions of obstetric violence, by Michelle Sadler, Mário JDS Santos, Dolores Ruiz-Berdún, Gonzalo Leiva Rojas, et al. Reproductive Health Matters 24.47 (May 2016): 47–55.  full text, with English, French and Spanish abstracts
• Invisible wounds: obstetric violence in the United States, by Farah Diaz-Tello Reproductive Health Matters 24.47 (May 2016): 56–64. full text, with English, French and Spanish abstracts

A newer article:
Elizabeth Kukura, “Obstetric Violence” [in the United States] The Georgetown Law Journal 106 (2018): 721 (2018)  Online here.

Two South African articles about this emerging issue are now online:

• Eliminating abusive’care’, : A criminal law response to obstetric violence in South Africa by Camilla Pickles. South African Crime Quarterly 54(2015): 5-16.  abstract and full text
• “Obstetric violence in South Africa,”  by Rachelle Joy Chadwick,South African Medical Journal 106.5 (2016): 423-24. [also reviews concept and term]   2-page text.

Autonomy and pregnancy: A comparative analysis of compelled obstetric intervention, by Samantha Halliday (Routledge 2016) draws on law from the U.K., U.S. and Germany, in “circumstances in which courts have declared medical treatment lawful in the face of the pregnant woman’s refusal of consent.”  Autonomy & Pregnancy book.

Relevant Kenyan and South African decisions are available online, with case summaries prepared for Legal Grounds III: Reproductive and Sexual Rights in Sub-Saharan African Courts, forthcoming in 2017.

• Millicent Awuor Omuya alias Maimuna Awuor & Another v The Attorney General & 4 Others [2015], Petition No. 562 of 2012, (High Court of Kenya at Nairobi (Constitutional and Human Rights Division)). [Detaining women for failing to pay for maternal health services violated their constitutional rights]  Case summary.    Decision online.
  
• Ntsele v MEC for Health, Gauteng Provincial Government [2012] ZAGPJHC 208 (South Gauteng High Court, South Africa)  [Medical negligence during labour]  Case summary.  Decision online.

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REPROHEALTHLAW Updates, June 2016

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DEVELOPMENTS

“Ireland’s abortion laws subjected a woman to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, according to a  landmark decision from the United Nations Human Rights Committee.”
Center for Reproductive Rights, CRR press release.   UN Press Release, June 9, 2016.  Newsmedia reports.  Decision CCPR/C/116/D/2324/2013 online.

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY IN AFRICA – SCHOLARSHIPS

Master’s degree (LLM/MPhil) in Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Africa,  University of Pretoria, South Africa, Two-year program starts in Jan. 2017.   Blended learning course with online interaction and residential block-weeks in Pretoria, South Africa. Two contact sessions will be scheduled every year (four contact sessions over the two year period).   Apply by 31 Oct 2016. Up to 15 full scholarships available for African citizens.  African LLM/MPhil details.

RESOURCES

[abortion, U.K. and U.S.] “With advances in embryo research, it’s time to bring abortion law out of the Victorian age,” by Sally Sheldon. Kent Law School, Kent University, Canterbury, BioNews 853 (May 31, 2016)  Article online.

[conscientious objection – institutions] Contracting Religion, by Elizabeth Sepper,  in:  Law, Religion, and Health in the United States, ed. Holly Fernandez Lynch, I. Glenn Cohen, & Elizabeth Sepper (Forthcoming: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2017). (Draft chapter online).

[fetal abnormality, microcephaly, Brazil]  Special issue of Cadernos de Saúde Pública 32.5 (2016) Rio de Janeiro includes a special thematic section:
“Zika and Pregnancy”  Table of Contents with links to translations.
— “Zika virus and women,” by Debora Diniz (English and Portuguese)
— “The debate on abortion and Zika: lessons from the AIDS epidemic,” by Thais Medina Coeli Rochel de Camargo, (English and Portuguese)
— “Women’s reproductive rights and the Zika virus epidemic,” by Jacqueline Pitanguy (English and Portuguese)
— “Comment on the paper by Pitanguy,” by Florencia Luna (English and Spanish)
— “Ensuring a rights-based health sector response to women affected by Zika” by Paige Baum, Anna Fiastro, Shane Kunselman, Camila Vega, Christine Ricardo, Beatriz Galli, and Marcos Nascimeno (English and Portuguese).
— “Comment on the article by Baum et al.,” by Ana Cristina González-Velez
(English and Spanish)
— “Zika and reproductive justice,” by Alexandra Minna Stern (English)

[fetal abnormality, microcephaly] “Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the Time of Zika in Latin America and the Caribbean,” by Ana Langer, Jacquelyn M. Caglia andClara Menéndez, Studies in Family Planning 47.2 (June 2016): 179-181.  Online version.

Law and Policy updates are issued monthly by International Campaign for Women’s Right to Safe Abortion.  To receive the electronic newsletter, click “Join the Campaign”

[maternal deaths, Uganda]: “Why the Constitutional Court should rule on the right to health,” by Michael Addaney in AfricLaw blog,  June 3, 2016  AfricLaw blogpost,

[stereotyping] “Emerging from the Shadows: Substantive Equality and Article 14 of
the European Convention on Human Rights,” by Sandra Fredman, Human Rights Law Review 16 (2016): 273–301   Advance access.

US-focused news, resources, and legal developments are available on Repro Rights Prof Blog.  View or subscribe.

NEWS

[El Salvador]  Sentenced to 40 Years After a Miscarriage, Maria Teresa Rivera was freed May 20,2016 News report in English.   News report in Spanish

JOBS

Links to other employers in the field of Reproductive and Sexual Health Law are online here

______________
Compiled by the Coordinator of the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca For Program publications and resources, see our website, online here. TO JOIN THIS BLOG: enter your email address in upper right corner of this webpage, then check your email to confirm the subscription.